Sunday, December 21, 2014

The iconic Cricket stadium at
Chennai is an important landmark. Previously
called Chepauk by its location, it is ‘MA Chidambaram Stadium’ named after M.
A. Chidambaram, the former President of BCCI and the Tamil Nadu Cricket
Association. It was established in the year 1916 making it the oldest Cricket
Stadium in India which is in continuous use.

Earlier, the Cricket club
established by British civil servant AJ Arbuthnot remained the preserve of
Europeans till India became independent. In the late 1960s, TNCA entered the
scene. By the late 1970s, the green surroundings of the Chepauk stadium were
replaced by a huge concrete stadium built by TNCA.

Today, at Chepauk, Jalaj Saxena's
ninth first-class hundred guided Madhya Pradesh to a promising position. MP, opting to bat, were 250 for 4 at stumps
with Saxena still unbeaten on 120. The crowds have dwindled in recent times and
matches are played in near empty stadiums – in contrast to the winding queues
when TN played Karnataka or anyother top ranking team. Today, it was announced that the Pavilion terrace
would be kept open for the general public for free on all match days. The gate
will remain open from 9 am. The spectators can enter the stadium through Gate
No 3 (MJ Gopalan Gate, opposite the Chepauk Railway Station). A stall, which
will sell food at subsidized rate, is also made available for the spectators. –
does it suggest something ! ~ the empty stands that you see in the photo below,
during CLT20 was due to different reasons though !

Away in Andhra
Pradesh, comes the news of a woman allegedly throwing acid on a lecturer at the
Government Polytechnic College, Nallapadu, on Saturday. The lecturer, M.
Venkata Ramana, who sustained serious burns on his face and neck, was admitted
to the Government General Hospital (GGH). The woman, identified as Sowjanya,
alleged that the man had cheated her after promising to marry her.

Police said the woman,
who had covered her face in a veil waited at the main gate for Ramana and when
he came out during lunch time, she threw concentrated sulphuric acid on his
face.